NOW IN THEATERS! Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton comes in with the fourth installment of the Tom Holland Spider-Man series—but has superhero fatigue set in, or is the Marvel Cinematic Universe finally saved before it goes kaput in Avengers: Doomsday?
Our take brings us several years after Spider-Man: No Way Home. MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) have graduated from university and moved back to New York, still with no memory of Peter Parker. In the meantime, Peter is living a loner life, saving New York from all kinds of crime with the help of Detective Jean DeWolff. Meanwhile, a new threat is closing in on the Department of Damage Control, the organization headed by William Metzger (Tramell Tillman) that is responsible for recovering alien technology and repairing damage from superhero battles.
The problem is that a villain (Sadie Sink) can possess everyone except Peter—and is using innocent victims to attempt to invade the Department of Damage Control in search of something called V-Max. This villain decides to torment Peter Parker by possessing people he loves, including MJ. Now Peter is starting to panic and reluctantly enlists the help of the Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo).
Lastly, something is going wrong with Peter. His spider powers are growing stronger and more out of control. He is developing organic spider webbing and becoming more aggressive, so innocent citizens are now being hurt by his uncontrolled strength. Now add all the still-loves-MJ stuff, and you’ve got a movie.
MJ (Zendaya) clings to Spider-Man (Tom Holland) as he swings her through the city in Destin Daniel Cretton’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026).
“This villain decides to torment Peter Parker by possessing people he loves, including MJ.”
Let me start by saying I liked Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but it is seriously flawed. What I liked about the film is that it features some of the best Spider-Man action of any film in the series. Watching the fight scenes, I couldn’t help but think that this is how I imagined all this action as a kid reading the comic books. From the webs to the Spidey-Sense to the acrobatics and swinging across the city, I was a kid again. In fact, the opening action pulled me right into this world.
Regarding the drama, Brand New Day is decidedly a Gen-Z movie. Most of Peter’s motivation (outside of apprehending baddies) is stalking MJ. He’s still madly in love with her, and she could not care less about this strange person. This is a storyline you’d expect from a Gen-Z romance, and it’s done well…but I’m too old for this plot. That said, I think young folk will relate to the story and engage with it. I’ll say that other Marvel (and, recently, DC) films have spent way too much time on the human stories. This certainly happens with Brand New Day, but to Destin Daniel Cretton’s credit, he hides it a lot better than the others. It’s a bitter pill that’s tolerable to take.
The biggest problem with Brand New Day is that it’s two movies in one. The first movie is fun and full of action. Then there’s the second movie, which is the villain’s origin story and an exploration of why the villain is misunderstood. Very predictable if you’ve been following superhero films as of late. This villain is also a known character in Marvel Comics—one that I have been a fan of since my junior high days. Without giving away this person’s identity, I have to say I hated what they did, story-wise. This character has a very specific origin story that defines who they are. The story we get fundamentally changes that character to the point where they should have either created a brand-new character or assigned it to a lesser-known hero/villain whose change wouldn’t bother people. This second movie is what’s going to turn off a lot of older comic book fans, and it’s a shame.
For the most part, I had fun with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, showing that the only good Marvel movies since Avengers: Endgame are the Spider-Man movies. This movie is too long and mishandles the pacing in the second half, but not so much that I can’t overlook the flaws and recommend it. This film could have been better if new eyes had been put on the final script and the plot elements streamlined.
"…It's a bitter pill that's tolerable to take."
